Father's occupational exposure to radiation and the raised level of childhood leukemia near the Sellafield Nuclear Plant

Journal Article · Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Environmental Health Perspectives; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3431285· OSTI ID:5930566

Gardner, M J ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Southampton (England)

The first indications that childhood leukemia rates may be raised near the Sellafield nuclear plant in West Cumbria, England, came from largely anecdotal evidence in a television program Windscale: The Nuclear Laundry shown during 1983. During subsequent years, various epidemiological studies have investigated the claim in more detail. Geographical analyses of childhood leukemia incidence in the northern region and mortality in England and Wales using routinely available data made the first contribution. As a result, it was confirmed that leukemia rates in the area, particularly the neighboring village of Seascale, were high compared to other districts, although not totally extreme. Cohort studies of children born in Seascale or attending schools in Seascale were carried out to resolve some of the difficulties of interpretation of geographical analysis. Cohort studies indicated that the excess of leukemia was concentrated among children born in Seascale and was not found among those moving in after birth and suggested that any causal factors may be acting before birth or very early in life. A case-control study of leukemia (and lymphoma) among young people in West Cumbria has examined potentially important individual factors in detail. The study demonstrated a relationship between the raised incidence of leukemia in children and father's recorded external radiation dose during work at Sellafield before his child's conception. The association can effectively explain statistically the observed geographical excess.

• OSTI ID: 5930566
• Journal Information: Environmental Health Perspectives; (United States), Vol. 94; ISSN 0091-6765
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
HEMATOPOIETIC SYSTEM
DELAYED RADIATION EFFECTS
LEUKEMIA
EPIDEMIOLOGY
LYMPHOMAS
MORTALITY
NEW SOUTH WALES
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
PRENATAL IRRADIATION
RADIATION DOSES
SELLAFIELD REPROCESSING PLANT
WINDSCALE PRODUCTION REACTORS
AIR COOLED REACTORS
AUSTRALASIA
AUSTRALIA
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
BODY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISEASES
DOSES
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
GAS COOLED REACTORS
GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTORS
IMMUNE SYSTEM DISEASES
IRRADIATION
NATURAL URANIUM REACTORS
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION REACTORS
PRENATAL EXPOSURE
PRODUCTION REACTORS
RADIATION EFFECTS
REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
560151* - Radiation Effects on Animals- Man